And so suddenly, lightness exploded through the bond like the sun. Kai and I gasped in shock as my chest released, and I dragged in the heaviest breath of my life.
“Oh, thank fuck,” Kai croaked as he grabbed his phone. His body went limp against me as the deep, aching pain that I thought would never disappear unlocked.
“I found him.” Sin’s cold tone cut through the air. “They’ve trapped him in the kitchens. I can keep him mildly stable, but we need you both.”
“How far?” Kai asked as he let go, pushing himself to his feet. I could just make out his hard expression through my blurry vision.
“Two minutes at the most in Melanie’s state.”
The call suddenly ended, and Kai shoved his phone back in his pocket, instantly grabbing me.
“Can you get up?” Kai asked me, tugging on my arm to help me stand before I even answered. “Just think about it, okay? We’re going to see Caspian. We’re gonna see our alpha, and then everything will be fine.”
My omega instincts perked up, and I was sure it was the only reason I pushed myself to my feet.
Kai put my arm over his shoulder as he grabbed my waist. “It’ll all be better when we find Caspian, so we just have to start walking, okay? That’s it, come on. Just one step at a time.”
My stomach roiled as I used the last of my energy to lean on Kai and let him carry me forward.
Sin must have been doing something to Caspian, because with every step we took, the red faded, the darkness opened, and the fearsome pain eased. But the haze stayed, so all I could do was focus on our bond to stay awake.
Kai kept chattering, his panic so clear in his voice as he talked and talked and kept me awake as we stumbled towards the kitchens.
I was so tired. But it seemed like all I was was tired nowadays. Maybe it would be over soon. I knew Kai was right. I could feel deep down that if we didn’t find Caspian, it would be the end.
The buzz in my ears and the way my vision kept fracturing told me it was tearing inside me, and I needed to stop it before it broke me forever.
Melanie
Aboom echoed through the kitchens, and all three of us flinched as the huge door to the refrigerator room rattled, and pain burst through our shoulders.
Caspian roared from the other side of the door, and the agony increased.
I could tell from the way Caspian paced that the room he was trapped in was at least five metres squared.
What Sin said was true; the closer we got, the more it hurt, and now Kai and I leant against one of the hard counters of the restaurant kitchen just to keep ourselves upright.
“What are we supposed to do now?” I asked. Because my single urge, the one thing pounding through me along with Caspian’s pain, was that I needed to be with him. We all did. He needed his mates, and I felt like I was going to pass out if I didn’t touch him soon.
“It’s an easy enough mechanism,” Sin said as he tried the handle. But with the padlock in place, it rattled and wouldn’t move. “Did you keep any of your pins?” he asked Kai, but he shook his head.
He nuzzled me for the hundredth time since we had stood up in the corridor. “Are you still here?” he murmured.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I promised him as I squeezed my arm around his back.
I could think more clearly, even though Caspian’s rage was like a drug. I wanted to feed on it, to bring it inside my body, to heal him and protect him, and show him I was his omega.
“He’s doing it again,” Kai growled. “Don’t let him suck you in, Brandy. You don’t have to be his saviour. Don’t let him twist your mind; just stay with me.”
Even though his voice was hard, his fear hadn’t faded.
Once this was all over, if it was ever over, I needed to lie down with Kai and hold him until he knew he didn’t need to be scaredthat I would leave him. As long as the four of us were together, we could do it.
But the pull of Caspian’s bite was so strong that I wanted to go to the fridge door, to open it up, to jump into the room with the snarling beast.
I’d read so many things about how dangerous rogue alphas could be. It was basically my hobby. Considering how Caspian had treated me since we first met, I couldn’t believe that I would be safe if I listened to my omega instincts and went to him. Even if I was bonded to him, there were so many stories of alphas killing their omegas in rut, let alone a rogue state.
Kai released me. “I’ll go find the key or something else,” he said, his panic flaring up again.
